Geek culture

With all the recent advances in user interfaces and head-mounted displays, there's little reason virtual sex can't offer a truly 21st century, nearly realistic experience.

That's the sentiment behind VRSexKit.com, a set of sex simulators in the works from ThriXXX, a company that has been a leader in adapting technologies like Microsoft's Kinect for virtual-reality sex play.

Though ThriXXX was quick to figure out how to use the Kinect in virtual sex, founder Brad Abram now believes Microsoft's motion-control camera system doesn't offer a "granular enough" experience. … Read more

British TV series "Top Gear" is known for building some pretty outlandish automotive creations. The latest in that lineage is a Honda FH2620 mower. That doesn't sound very exciting until you learn just how heavily modified it is, from the tires to the engine.

"Top Gear" called in Honda racing group Team Dynamics to help turn the lawn mower into a lawn monster. The steering rack is from a Morris Minor. It got a fresh set of racing wheels and tires. They managed to stuff a VTR 1000cc motorcycle engine into the thing. The theoretical top speed is 130 mph.… Read more

I dream of a better world, one in which tasty food and beverages drop from the sky, right onto my plate and into my glass, ready to enjoy. I'm not the only one with this vision. First came the Tacocopter concept. Next, it was the Burrito Bomber and the beer drone. Now, Domino's Pizza UK has introduced the DomiCopter, a flying pizza-delivery system.

The system consists of an octocopter with an insulated Domino's delivery bag underneath in a cage. The bag can easily hold a couple of pizzas and keep them warm during their flight.… Read more

These days, most marketing stunts are aimed at going viral online through social-media shares. Pepsi's new Like Machine marketing stunt makes social media a requirement, not an option. The vending machine doesn't want your cash, it just wants your Facebook cred.

The Pepsi Like Machine is putting a twist on the age-old art of sampling. Normally, a hired gun dressed up in brand apparel hands out samples to anyone walking by. The specialized vending machine hands out samples, too, but you have to give it a "like" on Facebook before it coughs up the goods.… Read more

There's a special place 200 miles south of where I live. It's a place of legend, an ancient burial ground. Supposedly, a stretch of land near Alamogordo, N.M., is the final resting place for one of the most infamous disasters in gaming history: the Atari E.T. game.

According to a New York Times report from 1983, Atari dumped 14 truckloads of unsold game cartridges and other detritus into a landfill. "Guards kept reporters and spectators away from the area yesterday as workers poured concrete over the dumped merchandise," it reads.

The E.T. game earned its status as one of gaming's biggest bombs by pretty much stinking up the entire video game industry at the time. Critics and gamers alike hated the plot, the way it looked, and just about everything else about it. That's why Atari got stuck with several million unsold copies.… Read more

One of the lures of a 3D printer is the ability to create and get a result that is so tactile. Your design dreams become real objects. If only the price weren't so high.

A lot of people are waiting for a 3D printer that is easy to use and doesn't cost much more than a regular printer. The Buccaneer from Pirate3D on Kickstarter is looking to deliver on both those fronts.

The Buccaneer goes all-in with an Apple-style aesthetic. It's the sort of printer you won't hide under your desk. The plastic printing material comes spooled in cartridges, which are placed into the top of the machine. The printing happens inside the cube. A plate in the bottom lowers to access the object once it's done.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Film crew to dig up Atari landfill site, maybe score 3.5 million copies of E.T.

- The opposite of standing desks: the computer workstation for the person with everything.

- Unlocking The Truth is the most brutal sixth grade metal band ever.

- Hatebeak: a death metal band fronted by a parrot.

- Ex-military snipers called into shoot feral goats from helicopters to protect Galapagos Tortoise population.… Read more

Though steampunk tends to mind a retro vein, it goes surprisingly well with the aesthetics of the "Star Wars" universe. This was already proven with the marvelous steampunk AT-AT. Epbot reader May B. delves into the look for an unusual, and somewhat creepy, version of a Darth Vader costume.

May B.'s concept starts with a Victorian mourning dress, a shiny black number full of intricate patterns, topped off with a black hat with a veil running down the back. Steampunk goggles (a requirement pretty much) are integrated into a Darth Vader mask topped with a filigreed silver detail.… Read more

Although the invention of the Braille system means the blind have access to the printed word, one printed medium, based as it is in visual storytelling, is impossible to enjoy without seeing it: the comic book. At least until Philipp Meyer, a design student at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, Germany, got involved.

His idea was twofold: create a story that's as graphically simplified as possible, and realize it in a way that is equally explorable to both the sighted and the blind. Thus was born Life: a simple tale told using only circles of varying textures … Read more